Israel war resembles something ‘approaching revenge’, Taoiseach says

Gaza City encircled by Israel as US to urge Binyamin Netanyahu for ‘localised’ humanitarian pauses

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said that Israel’s response to the October 7th attack by Hamas “resembles something more approaching revenge”.

Speaking to reporters in the South Korean capital of Seoul, Mr Varadkar said collective punishment was a breach of international law and that Israel’s response to the attacks had gone beyond self-defence.

“I think it’s very important we never forget where this started. This phase of the conflict started with a Hamas attack on Israel, where 1400 civilians were killed, including one person who’s a dual Israeli-Irish citizen. I strongly believe that, like any state, Israel has the right to defend itself, has the right to go after Hamas so that they cannot do this again. But what I’m seeing unfolding at the moment isn’t just self-defence. It looks, it resembles something more approaching revenge. That’s not where we should be and I don’t think that’s how Israel will guarantee its future freedom and its future security,” he said.

Mr Varadkar also declined to describe Ireland is a friend of Israel, saying that Israel does not regard Ireland as a friend or ally. He said that Ireland was doing what was possible in the European Union and at the United Nations to call for a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza.

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“I think Israel listens to countries it considers to be friends and allies like the US. I’m not sure they listen very closely to what we have to say, quite frankly, and that’s the reality of the situation. But that’s not going to stop us taking the position that we are in the UN, a very strong position at the EU to try and re-centre that position,” he said.

“I think, given what’s been said by Israel and Israeli authorities, they wouldn’t consider us to be close friends and allies in the way they’d consider the US to be, or the UK or Germany, for example.”

Ireland was one of just eight EU member-states that voted for UN general assembly resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, with most member-states abstaining.

“It’s a state that we have relations with, but I don’t think we’re as close as we might have been, or perhaps could be, because we do take a different position than most western countries on Palestine than what’s happening at the moment,” he said.

Mr Varadkar declined to comment on reports that an Irish citizen may be among more than 200 hostages held in Gaza since Hamas killed 1400 people in Israel on October 7th. He said he received a briefing from the Department of Foreign Affairs on the issue on Friday morning.

“I’m not in a position to talk about individual cases but what I can say is that when it comes to any Irish citizen in Gaza – we do have over 30 Irish citizens in Gaza – that we’re working with Israeli authorities, with other member states at the UN, to enable Irish citizens to leave should they wish to do so,” he said.

“I have to respect the wishes and concerns of the people involved and these are very sensitive issues and I don’t think anybody wants to say anything that might cause anyone difficulties. I can’t say any more about it than that.”

Meanwhile, Israel said it had surrounded the Gaza Strip’s biggest city and the focus of its drive to annihilate Hamas, as the United States was set to press Israel’s prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu to agree to pauses in fighting to allow aid into the Palestinian enclave.

With the conflict nearing the end of its fourth week, US secretary of state Antony Blinken was due to visit Israel for the second time in a month to meet Mr Netanyahu as Israel’s military battled Hamas militants, who fought back with hit-and-run attacks from underground tunnels.

“We’re at the height of the battle. We’ve had impressive successes and have passed the outskirts of Gaza City. We are advancing,” Mr Netanyahu said in a statement after the military said it had encircled the seaside enclave’s main city.

As Mr Blinken left Washington for the Middle East, he said he would discuss concrete steps to minimise harm to civilians in Gaza. The White House, meanwhile, said any pauses in fighting should be temporary and localised, and insisted they would not stop Israel defending itself.

Mounting casualties among Palestinian civilians, along with acute shortages of food, water, medicine and fuel, have intensified calls by global leaders for a pause in fighting or a ceasefire.

Israel has dismissed those calls, saying it targets Hamas fighters whom it accuses of intentionally hiding among the population and civilian buildings. The White House has also rejected calls for a ceasefire.

Gaza health authorities say at least 9,061 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched its assault on the enclave of 2.3 million people in retaliation for deadly attacks by Hamas militants on southern Israel.

A group of independent United Nations experts warned that Palestinians in Gaza are at “grave risk of genocide”.

“We call on Israel and its allies to agree to an immediate ceasefire. We are running out of time,” the group of U.N. special rapporteurs said in a statement.

The Israeli mission to the UN in Geneva called the rapporteur’s comments “deplorable and deeply concerning” and blamed Hamas for the civilian deaths. Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for UN secretary general Antonio Guterres, said a determination of genocide could only be made by a relevant UN judicial body.

Israel says Hamas killed 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and took more than 240 hostages in the attacks on October 7th, the deadliest day of its 75-year-old history.

The White House said on Thursday it was looking into a series of pauses in the conflict.

“What we’re trying to do is explore the idea of as many pauses as might be necessary to continue to get aid out and to continue to work to get people out safely, including hostages,” US national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters.

Mr Blinken also was due to meet Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi in Amman on Saturday. In a statement, Safadi said Israel must end the war on Gaza, where he said it was committing war crimes by bombing civilians and imposing a siege.

Gulf Arab power, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), warned on Friday that tension in the Middle East was “approaching a boiling point” and that it was working “relentlessly” to reach an immediate and full humanitarian ceasefire.

“The risk of regional spillover and further escalation is real, as well as the risk that extremist groups will take advantage of the situation to advance ideologies that will keep us locked in cycles of violence,” Noura al-Kaabi, a minister of state for foreign affairs, told a conference in Abu Dhabi.

Amid heavy explosions in Gaza, Israeli military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari told reporters his country’s “troops completed the encirclement of Gaza City, which is the focal point of the Hamas terror organisation”.

Brigadier General Iddo Mizrahi, chief of Israel's military engineers, said troops were encountering mines and booby traps.

“Hamas has learned and prepared itself well,” he said.

Abu Ubaida, spokesperson for the armed wing of Hamas, said in a televised speech on Thursday that Israel's death toll in Gaza was much higher than the military had announced. “Your soldiers will return in black bags,” he said.

Israel has said it has lost 18 soldiers and killed dozens of militants since ground operations expanded on Friday.

Hamas and allied Islamic Jihad fighters were emerging from tunnels to fire at tanks, then disappearing back into the network, residents said and videos from both groups showed.

Two US officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the US was flying intelligence-gathering drones over Gaza to help locate hostages. One of the officials said they had been carrying out the drone flights for over a week.

The Rafah crossing from Gaza to Egypt was due to open for a third day on Friday for limited evacuations under a Qatari-brokered deal aimed at letting some foreign passport holders, their dependents and some wounded Gazans out of the enclave.

According to border officials, more than 700 foreign citizens left for Egypt via Rafah on the two previous days. Dozens of critically injured Palestinians were to cross too. Israel asked foreign countries to send hospital ships for them.

Thailand said it is in touch with Iran and other governments that can make contact with Hamas for the safe release of nearly two dozen Thai nationals being held hostage.

Thailand’s foreign minister Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara said on Friday that Iran, which is close to Hamas, had promised to help with negotiations.

Over a third of Gaza's 35 hospitals are not functioning, with many turned into impromptu refugee camps.

“The situation is beyond catastrophic,” said the charity Medical Aid for Palestinians, describing packed corridors and many medics who were themselves bereaved and homeless. – Additional reporting from Reuters

Denis Staunton

Denis Staunton

Denis Staunton is China Correspondent of The Irish Times